On Saturday we partied out way into the start of summer; it was hot, colourful and energetic!

Over the last few years we have been partnering with Dejavu Promotions to run large scale events in the Town Hall to test out what is viable and what the audience want. In 2026 they launched out on their own for the large events with Positive Carrickfergus offering some event support on the night. 

The Dejavu crew gave us a night that had everyone on their feet belting out classics from our youth. Our audience up for the banter as always, came dressed for the occassion – it was hard to miss the neon leg-warmers, headbands, aerobics outfits, big hair and Hawaiian shirts – spotted amongst the crowd was a Top gun pilot and Hi-De-Hi team member!

DejaVu put so much effort into these nights, from rehearsing for months before hand, advertising, setting the stage and hall up the day before, soundchecking and run throughs on the day and then stripping it all down again in the days after. It has been great partnering with them over the last few years and learning together how to create a pop up venue within the empty and unequipped town hall.

The major takeaway for us all is that we need arts and entertainment investment for Carrickfergus including an equipped venue similar to those in Larne and Ballymena, one that can house large shows without the event organisers having to literally build and create a performance space, provide and load in production equipment, provide independent licensed security and event staff – ticket prices and volunteer staff simply can’t cover these financial and labour costs.

As we ask ourselves what happens next, please continue to support events locally by buying tickets and taking part – we love what we do and we will continue doing it together somehow, with the lively and creative community in Carrickfergus.

Lynn

Photo credit Katie McKenzie